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We had the opportunity to visit a George Howell location in Boston and – after doing some research – knew right away we wanted to feature them at Brothers Coffee. George Howell was created by, you guessed it, George Howell after he sold his previous coffee chain to Starbucks. With his new project, Howell emphasized identifying and roasting the highest quality coffee he could.
What is a good business to start to pay the bills while you study chemical engineering? Coffee roasting seems a good option, or at least that’s what Mike Perry of Klatch Coffee thought. Mike’s friend found an old roaster lying around and asked if Mike would like to fix it up and use it. As any good engineer would, he fixed the roaster and even made a few improvements. Klatch still uses the roaster today! Keep reading
Our latest roaster is 1000 Faces Coffee from Athens, Georgia, our second selected roaster from Georgia. We’ve enjoyed the conversations we’ve had with them over the past month and can’t wait to share their delicious coffee with our subscribers.
1000 Faces was born out of a fascination in the intersection systems and ecology by founder Benjamin Myers. In 2006 they bought their first Diedrich roaster and a load of coffee from Ecuador and began their journey into coffee. From here, their adventure was one of experimenting in different coffees, journeys to source, and gaining business experience. Keep reading
La Cosecha is a small roaster in Maplewood, MO (just outside St. Louis) that we are very happy we stumbled upon. They started roasting using a popcorn maker at home and have expanded to running their own espresso bar. But unlike many small roasters, La Cosecha put a huge priority on their producers. Building the relationships needed for direct trade partnerships takes a large effort, but La Cosecha has been up to the task. Where they are unable to find direct trade partnerships, they are careful when selecting their importers, ensuring their producers are well taken care of. Keep reading
It’s easier to find information on Bold Bean Coffee Roasters’ coffee farmer’s than it is to find information on their own team. If you head to their “About” page, you’ll find short videos on each of their producers, who they visit and build relationships with before they buy coffee. This is representative of what we think makes Bold Bean so special: they are one of the only roasters that – by themselves – seeks out relationship coffee rather than simply going through importers and trusting their word. This is such a huge undertaking that most roasters we work with can’t do it themselves. But it’s such a priority for Bold Bean, they’re not worried about how much effort it takes. Keep reading
Higher Grounds Coffee from Traverse City Michigan began to form during a trip by founder Chris Treter’s trip to the Maya Vinic cooperative in Chiapas, Mexico. In Chiapas, poverty and lack of clean drinking water was the way of life. When their trip wrapped up, they asked their new friend Jose Perez Vazquez how they could continue to help from the US. Jose asked them to sell is coffee in America. Keep reading
Brothers Coffee had the pleasure of visiting several A&E cafe’s as well as their roasting facility in Amherst, NH over the last several months. In fact, that’s how we discovered them, wandering around downtown Manchester and stumbling upon a place that took their passion for coffee seriously. As we watched them meticulously make our pour-over, we pulled up their website and saw this roaster could meet our criteria! Keep reading
Once again, we have selected a new member of our favorite Cooperative Coffees for the month of January, this time hailing from sunny Gainesville Florida. Perhaps the best to describe their mission is them. On Sweetwaters bags of coffee they tell us:
Sweetwater is committed to long-term relationships with our trading partners, working with them to improve their quality of life, and paying them a fair price for the beautiful coffee they work so hard to farm for us year after year. We figure that by delivering fresh small-batch roasted coffee, our solidarity with small-scale coffee farmers will become an integral part of your personal coffee ritual.
We’ve had the wonderful opportunity to work with Cooperative Coffees members Kickapoo, Larry’s, Bongo Java, and Amavida. Each time, we brag about the great work Cooperative Coffees is doing to ensure farmers they work with are paid a fair wage while setting the standards for transparency.
Cafe Campesino is one of the founders of Cooperative Coffees and was instrumental in gathering this like-minded group of fair trade roasters together back in 1999. They have been roasting their own amazing coffee under the Cafe Campesino brand since 2002. Keep reading
Brothers Coffee is happy to announce our latest coffee roaster: DOMA Coffee from Post Falls, ID. Every decision made at DOMA is rooted in sustainability-from providing a higher than fair trade compensation to the farmers they work with to using an energy-saving Loring Smart Roast in their production facility.
DOMA Coffee Roasting Company was founded with the goal of creating an environmentally sound company that roasts great coffee. Or a company that roasts great coffee and is environmentally sound. Either way, we all win. Keep reading